Langone has frequently expressed support for US President Donald Trump in media appearances, as has Marcus. In 2019, Marcus said he would donate a portion of his billions to the president's re-election campaign.
In 2020 so far, the Bernard Marcus Family Foundation has donated $680,521 to Republican Congressional candidates. He donated nothing to Democratic or liberal figures, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The foundation has nearly doubled its political giving since 2018.
Starting in 2019, a Nevada voter named Patrick Farrah is listed by the FEC as having donated thousands toward Republican candidates like Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, and Duncan Hunter, as well as the PAC Bikers for the President. The Northern Nevada Business Weekly reported in 2014 that the Home Depot cofounder had moved to the Lake Tahoe area.
As the Democratic-leaning holdout of Home Depot's group of founders, Blank has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democrats like Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer, and Sam Nunn. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the Arthur M. Blank Foundation has only given $283 to Democratic candidates in 2020 so far, and zero dollars to Republicans.
But simply examining large donations from retired founders does not lead to a complete or accurate picture of either Home Depot or Lowe's' political leanings.
To examine the politics of the home improvement sector beyond the issue of politically-polarized founders, Business Insider combed through the FEC records for each company's current leadership team and examined the Center for Responsive Politics' breakdown of each company's in-house PAC for answers.
As political donors, current Home Depot CEO Craig Menear and Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison diverge in a number of key ways. Of the two, Menear is clearly the more frequent contributor to political campaigns, politicians, and his current company's PAC.
Dating back to January 21, 2005, Menear has donated $97,921.16 to the Home Depot Inc., Political Action Committee. The PAC was previously called the Home Depot Better Government PAC in the early 2000s, only to be eventually renamed to promote transparency. He has made the occasional one-off donation to other, largely Republican, candidates and campaigns, including now-Sen. Mitt Romney's presidential run, Jeb Bush, and David Perdue.
Ellison, on the other hand, has never donated to the Lowe's Companies, Inc. Political Action Committee, according to FEC data. Over the course of 11 years, the ex-Home Depot executive gave the Atlanta-based chain's namesake PAC a total of $8,100.
With the exception of Ellison, the top brass at both home improvement giants largely favor donating to their employer's designated PAC, as well as the occasional specific politician or campaign.
So far in 2020, Lowe's' PAC has given a total of $540,500 to politicians, with a breakdown of 30% in contributions to Democratic candidates and 70% in giving to Republican contenders. In 2020, the breakdown for Lowe's' PAC's $602,000 was 25% to Democrats and 75% to Republicans. In 2016, the organization gave only 13% of its $448,750 expenditure to Democrats.
Despite Langone and Marcus' high-profile conservative giving, Home Depot's PAC has consistently been more Democrat-friendly than that of its rival. While Home Depot's PAC favors Republicans, the partisan balance of its giving has grown more even with each year. In 2020, Home Depot has spent $1,495,000, giving 44% of that money Democratic politicians and 56% to Republicans. In 2018, 36% of its $2,060,500 contribution went to Democrats, while in 2016 Democrats received 30% of an overall contribution of $1,977,250.
